Nice, Monaco, and the Grève

When you think of France, a couple of things come to mind. For example, baguettes, cheese, wine, berets, poodles, and last but not least, strikes (aka "grève"). Being an ignorant American, a French strike seems like a novelty. A strike on the Paris metro? No big deal, I live in Aix. A street-cleaning strike in Marseille? I still live in Aix. A strike basically shutting down the entire French railway system? I may still live in Aix, but traveling becomes 100 times more difficult.

This past weekend, Eszter and I traveled to the city of Nice (Alpes Maritimes) and the itty bitty country of Monaco. We were all set to leave and take our lovely TGV to Nice. When we arrived via Navette to the Aix-TGV Station, it was bedlam, and our train was (of course) cancelled. So, we hopped back on the Navette to Aix (goodbye 7 euros) and decided to trade our train tickets in for bus tickets to Nice instead. According to the office of tourism, tickets to Nice would only be 21 euros. However, this all changed April 6, when the price went up to 30 euros. Zut alors. We finally arrived in Nice at the Gare Routière, and made our way to our cute little hotel down Boulevard Jean Medecin, the largest boulevard in Nice. At night, it is lit up with blue and purple string lights, and is quite a site to see. The Nice tramway passes right through the boulevard, as well.

We were greeted at the hotel by a cute little old man who told us all about Nice, gave us a GIANT map, and even introduced us to the hotel's entrance system: digital fingerprints! It was so neat. We got to our room, which had a kitchenette and all (not that we would need one, but thanks anyways). After dropping our stuff off, we went downstairs to a fabulous dinner. After dinner, it was time for my cough meds, and I fell right asleep. Unfortunately for me, I had caught a lovely sinus infection + bronchitis the week before, so everywhere I went the French eyed me suspiciously like I was a host for the plague.

The next morning, we decided to go to Monaco. Unfortunately, the grève decided against this. Instead of being able to take the train at 10:30am (which no longer existed), we had to wait until 3:25pm. Oy. In the meantime, we strolled down the boulevards of Nice in our sundresses (the weather was absolutely gorgeous!), walked along the beach, visited the Russian Church (random), went to a park on the top of an ancient chateau (?) to see a view of the city, and had lunch at La Tapenade in the old city. Success? I think yes.

Russian Church?

Mmm Nice

At 3:25 we boarded our train to... Monte Carlo, Monaco. We arrived and immediately felt like we were being bathed in richness. For example, the train station was completely covered in marble. That's nice, right? Outside of the train station were beautiful buildings and beautiful cars. We first went to the Exotic Gardens. The Gardens were full of exotic plants, including the ever-so-wonderful cactus plant. Somehow, while walking through the garden, Eszter's dress caught some cactus spines on it. Needless to say, we spent a good 20 minutes picking spines out of her leg, and out of my fingers. It was quite the scene. And she still has spines in her leg, and I still have spines in my fingers. Oh well. I guess it is a garden we will never forget. And I am never allowing Eszter to go into a garden with cacti again. For both of our safety. After the dangerous exotic garden, we took the bus up to the old city (complete with ramparts) and saw the Monaco Palace. We didn't go inside, but it looked very mighty from the outside. We attempted some jumping photos, but apparently my camera just doesn't have the right timing for it. Or Eszter just fails at technology. Both are quite plausible. After the mighty palace, we walked through the little Monaco markets, and took the bus to... La Casino! La Casino is complete with gardens, fountains, and more Rolls Royce's, Bentleys, Mercedes (AMG of course), Ferraris and Lambourghinis that you will ever see in a lifetime. We couldn't get into the casino since we were both under 21, so we tried to find the Opera House that was built by the same architect who designed the Opera House in Paris. Unfortunately, it was part of the casino, or we couldn't find it or gain access to it. So we just walked around Monte Carlo, met some rich, young French businessmen, and found our way back to the train to Nice. 5 hours in Monaco not exactly enough, but unfortunately we didn't have much of a choice. Had another delicious dinner in Nice, and went to sleep right after.

The Old City of Monaco

The Casino

Garden outside of the Casino

Future ride? Maybe not.

Our original train back to Aix was canceled, and we were told to take a different, earlier TGV back. Unfortunately, we didn't have seats, because seats were for those people who had actually purchased those tickets. I had indeed purchased tickets, just not for THAT specific train. Oh well. But on the plus side, we did stand next to a cute little Jewish family. It was a mother and her 3 little girls, and someone else who might've been the grandmother or a sister. Not too sure. It was neat meeting other Jews in France. It made the 3 hours of standing much more pleasant. And they even gave us some food to eat! Malheureusement, the train didn't actually stop in Aix, but rather in Avignon. So we had to take a train from Avignon to Marseille (we passed by the Aix station on the way...) and then another train from Marseille to Aix. Needless to say, I was ready to take a nap after the whole ordeal. We left Nice around 11 am (it was delayed for 30 mins due to 'technical issues') and got to our Auberge around 4:30. Longest. Day. Of. My. Life. But hey, we made it home all in one piece.

After such a successful weekend, I feel that is it only fair that I should add in some tips to future travelers:
1. Do not wear a sundress. French guys go nuts.
2. Do not walk closely by homeless people. Don't ask.
3. When you hear grève, expect the worst.
4. If you are really nice, gas station attendants will let you use their private bathrooms that are usually barred from public use.
5. Do not go to exotic gardens with cacti.
6. Do not use windows as a mirror.

So long, Monte Carlo